


drinking buddies

by rantachi



Category: Magic: The Gathering
Genre: Alcohol, M/M, Nonbinary Character, Unfinished, nonbinary ral! nonbinary ral!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-30
Updated: 2016-09-30
Packaged: 2018-08-18 16:07:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8167898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rantachi/pseuds/rantachi
Summary: dack is a heterosexual™ and his reasons for meeting up with ral is totally just an excuse to get drunk, not because his drinking buddy is attractive and a smug asshole and he's Gay or anything™





	

**Author's Note:**

> THIS IS ACTUALLY AN UNFINISHED PIECE I WAS WORKING ON BUT IT'S OKAY AS A STANDALONE GMBGFHBNGFG? ANYWAYS IT WON'T BE FINISHED BUT SOMEONE ENCOURAGED ME TO POST IT ON HERE SO--
> 
> a little tiny bit inspired by reading a shitpost about these two as drinking buddies. maybe. probably .
> 
> ill post some actual finished dack/ral content someday i promise

It was a dark, breezy night on Ravnica when Dack slipped between an alleyway near the Izzet guild. The beginning of fall brewed in the air, and under normal circumstances, the thief loved to linger in the night air and enjoy it; it always smelled nicest outside during the fall season, and for a nighttime prowler like him, staying outside to enjoy the air and atmosphere was a favorite hobby. 

That wasn’t the case tonight, though, and anyone who knew the thief could guess why. His normal somewhat-cheerful, or at least joking demeanor was gone, replaced by an infuriated scowl and violence seething off of him. Dack had a bit of a reputation for making worse decisions under violent impulses, and so he had turned to a more common occasion that tended to happen to calm himself down.

He quickly navigated the back alleys to a small, dimly lit bar in the farthest part of them, the front of it resembling a run down building that had definitely seen better days. Very few people even knew the bar existed, between it’s worn down sign and how hidden it was located, and even fewer people ever frequented it, so it was a mystery how the bar even kept itself open. Still, Dack was grateful that it was open (and suspected that thieves such as him, and maybe even the Izzet guild members who had to have known about the bar, were responsible for keeping it open.), because it was about the only place convenient for him to meet up with his regular drinking buddy.

He grabbed the handle of the door and pushed it open, slinking into the run-down bar with a frustrated, stressed sigh and letting the door shut itself behind him the best he could. More by muscle memory then by concious thought - the thief was far too lost in his own infuriated thoughts and impulses to focus on where he was walking -, he slunk to the back corner barstool of the counter and nearly collapsed onto it, next to an Izzet guildmage who had already taken a drink or two.

“You look dead. Or like someone’s going to be.” Ral remarked with a raised eyebrow, glancing over at the frustrated thief now collapsed on the stool on their right, waving a hand to catch the bartender’s attention. “Or like I’m gonna have to break up a bar fight you start, and drop your wasted ass on whatever apartment’s doorstep you’re living in right now in about an hour.”

“If you’re lucky, I’ll black out before this night is over and wake up tomorrow here with no memory of what I’ve done, a few more drunken regrets under my breath and not feel like asking you what happened.” Dack muttered, dragging himself into somewhat of a more proper sitting position before addressing the bartender. “Five shots of the strongest you’ve got for my first round, thanks.”

“Nice to see you too, Dack,” Ral remarked, rolling their eyes before downing their current shot. “What died to make you so pissed off, huh? Don’t think I’ve ever seen you more then a bit annoyed occasionally when we’re talking.”

“Yeah, yeah, it’s good to see you too. Been a while since we went drinking,” Dack acknowledged with a slight head nod, pausing to down a drink before he continued. “And really, it’s just been one of those days, man! It started off with a shitty morning in the town - I fucked up and crashed into a display, literally, and dragged a few people with me. On accident, obviously, but still! And I tried to apologize and pay for it, because I’m not heartless, and the shopkeeper just yelled at me until I left! Understandable, but it still fucking sucked! And it got worse in the day; found a few people playing a few rounds of cards and not only did I lose, but I lost in a stupid, bullshit way! Called cheating!” The thief swore once, downed a shot and exhaled in frustration, taking a minute to recollect himself a bit before he continued. “They were using a spotter to know who had what cards, and I saw one of them stacking the decks! So obviously, I called it out, and they practically chased me across the city! And if that wasn’t enough, I haven’t been able to successfully steal a fucking thing, let alone find or steal anything valuable enough to warrant the theft, in daaays! Days, Ral! Fucking days! For me, the greatest thief in the fucking multiverse!”

He finished more with a whine then a frustrated yell, and laid his head down on the counter for a minute, letting out a deep sigh. Ral couldn’t help but snicker a bit, rolling their eyes at their somewhat overdramatic drinking partner.

“How tough for you. But, damn, all that is seriously what made you this pissed off? Something doesn’t add up, Dack. Spill the real deal.” The Izzet guildmage remarked pointedly, knocking back a shot after for emphasis. 

“Yeah, well…it just, uh. It didn’t help, really. Too much of anything will cause even the strongest guy to crumble.” Dack mumbled, anger simmering down a bit with the alcohol and ability to ramble to the guildmage. “But, yeah, not the only thing. Got into a fight with some other thieves over gambling too, and I’ve had at least two people today get mad at me for being rightfully annoyed by shit they do. It grates,” He exhaled, putting a hand on his forehead and pausing to wave back down the bartender for another round of shots. “And usually I can deal with it better - I have a few years of experience dealing with my list of problems and anger issues- but…y’know, sometimes it’s just a little too much to deal with.”

“Huh. Didn’t peg you for the type of guy to have issues with that, actually.” Ral’s words were slightly surprised, but for once unsarcastic - the guildmage knew a bit less about the guy then they thought they did. “You’re always such a sarcastic, joking asshole, kinda figured you didn’t have a temper. Got any names to the guys giving you shit?” 

“Yeah, well…you learn to hide it.” Dack’s voice now held a note of defeat and tiredness; he wasn’t used to spilling out strong emotions all at once, and was now very quickly turning to alcohol to lessen the effects. “And nah, I don’t take names down. If I run into ‘em again, I’ll deal with it myself…not really that big of a deal, I guess. Just…one of those days where I couldn’t deal with it.” 

“Well, that’s why alcohol exists.” They shrugged, knocking back a shot pointedly. “Drink away your troubles, drunkenly hit on someone - preferably not me, I’m the one who does the drunken pickup lines, not the reverse -, get into a bar fight and black out.”

“Thaaaat’s the plan.”


End file.
